Understanding household credit measures, a joint study by the Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada - ARCHIVED

The Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada both produce aggregate measures of borrowing, or credit, for sectors of the Canadian economy. The Statistics Canada measures are part of the National Balance Sheet Accounts (NBSA), which cover the entire economy and directly align with the internationally recognized national accounting principles detailed in the United Nations System of National Accounts. They are available by sector as currently defined in the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts. The NBSA are created using a balance sheet approach, which involves presenting the assets and liabilities for all instruments and sectors of the economy. In other words, for each instrument all holders of financial assets must have corresponding counterparties who hold the financial liabilities, and as such, the sum of these are equal in the aggregate. The Bank of Canada’s data are presented based on the issuer of credit, i.e., the holder of the financial assets, and do not display liabilities.